Nothing is more miserable than waking up drenched in sweat. And because summer is right around the corner, here’s a quick guide to fighting off the heat.
Steps 1 – Get a new bed
There are plenty of options from which to choose, but an easy place to start is by looking at hybrid or innerspring mattresses. They won’t necessarily sleep cold, but because they have coils, they will help to circulate airflow. And because innerspring beds are responsive by default, they make it easier to rotate sleeping positions, which allows other parts of the bed to dissipate heat. If you just think about it, the more you sink into a bed, the less you’ll want to move in the middle of the night. If you can’t move, that section of the bed can’t cool off. This is the main reason that we’re starting to see more and more gel memory foam beds: people were heating up on legacy memory foam beds and needed a new solution.
Step 2 – Buy a new fan
If you don’t have a ceiling fan in your room already, you should look into one, or at the very minimum get a pedestal fan. Perhaps the best option, however, is to just get AC, but if that’s not in the cards, you may want to try out this portable cooling fan. It’s really affordable at under $27, and comes with a US, UK, AU, or EU plug.
Step 3 – Get new sheets
Quite possibly, the most overlooked part of your bedroom is your sheet set. If you’re still sleeping on 15-year-old wool sheets, you might think about switching, as the wool is definitely trapping in the heat. TOMTOP has plenty of options ranging from cotton to micro fiber. You want something that is breathable, and perhaps even cool to the touch. You might even want to pickup new pillowcases like these silk-like pillowcases. They will be smooth and soft, and best of all, more breathable.
Step 4 – Try out new PJs
Just like you might be overlooking your sheets, your pajamas are worth reconsidering as well. Obviously, the best you can do is to sleep naked, but if that’s too weird for you, we’d advise wearing just a t-shirt and underwear to bed—no full-length pajamas. If you think about it, PJs are just another layer of insulation to trap body heat. That’s not something you want if you’re a hot sleeper.
Step 5 – Take a cold shower before bed
An easy way to ensure that you go to bed at a neutral sleeping temperature is just to take a quick cold shower about 30 minutes before bed. You don’t have to be in the shower for long—you just want to cool down your core temperature so that you don’t go to bed hot. The ancillary benefit to taking a cold shower is that it helps to reduce inflammation, so if you’re an athlete or are nursing an injury you might think about taking more cold showers more frequently. It’s a bit like taking an ice bath, but far less extreme
So that’s just a quick 5-step guide on sleeping cooler at night. There’s no particular order of importance and you can pick and choose from the list, but all of them should help you to sleep cooler.
